Sir Novelty Fashion
Senior Member
I think he means that Raffles is one of the options for what to do ON the Sapphire site.
Toronto Residences at the RCMI Condos | 134.72m | 42s | Tribute | Zeidler
- Thread starter V of E
- Start date
Sir Novelty Fashion
Senior Member
Car 42, where were you?!
It'ly.
Coming soon to a Flickr site near you.
42
Coming soon to a Flickr site near you.
42
yyzer
Senior Member
bumped this old thread, as this G&M article points to some interesting possibilities regarding the commercial office market. I wonder if V of E has any update for us?
In Toronto, core values spread outward
Demand points to double-digit office rent increases - even to brick and beam buildings on the fringe
TERRENCE BELFORD
Special to The Globe and Mail
August 21, 2007
Tight vacancy rates across the Greater Toronto Area spell double-digit base rent increases for any tenant now facing lease renewal or looking for new office space, brokers and landlords say. Especially hard hit will be those tenants looking for larger premises, they say.
"We are already seeing rent increases in the 10- to 13-per-cent range and we believe those figures will start to spike in the final two quarters of this year," says Paul Morse, senior managing director at Cushman Wakefield LePage.
Rent increases in the core of the city - home to the bank towers and other high-rise office buildings - likely will average 10 per cent; but on the fringes, in areas north of Queen Street and to the downtown's east and west, they likely will rise even further, predicts John O'Toole, executive vice-president at CB Richard Ellis Ltd. He says a 15-per-cent increase is not uncommon.
At the same time, both landlords and brokers say the rent increases are providing substantial benefits to the city. They are, for example, creating demand for buildings north of Queen Street where vacancy rates traditionally ran in the 15-per-cent range. They are also helping to spur renovation and upgrading of older less desirable buildings in areas east and west of downtown.
"Owners are finding that if they put their money into improvements now, they can easily get it back plus increased operating profits from rents at these levels," says Michael Emory, president of Allied Properties REIT, which owns 2.5 million square feet of renovated office and retail buildings east and west of Toronto's core.
Those double-digit rent hikes are expected to continue for at least the next three years until about 3.3 million square feet of new office space comes on stream, says John Arnoldi, managing director for the Toronto region at Colliers International.
"The real question that faces us now is when will the impact of that new space be felt and what will it be?" he says. "Will it come in 2009, 2010 or 2011 and will it indeed put pressure on landlords to reduce rents?"
Mr. Morse is predicting vacancy rates, now running in the 5-per-cent range for Toronto, to rise again to 12.7 per cent once all that new space hits the market.
Especially tight is space in the central core area of the city where about 86 per cent of the top-quality office buildings are owned by a handful of pension funds and institutions. Mr. Morse says vacancy rates in triple-A buildings in the core have sunk to just 2.7 per cent, which means a 100,000-square-foot structure has about enough vacant space to house a three-bedroom condominium. Over all, the rate in the core area, south of Queen Street, which is home to about 63 million square feet of space, now stands at 5.3 per cent.
"If you have a 5-per-cent vacancy rate in a building, we consider it fully leased," says Paul Finkbeiner, president of GWL Realty Advisors Inc., which manages properties such as Commerce Court and 33 Yonge Street. He says supply-and-demand factors dictate rent increases and, as space comes up in GWL-managed properties, these have been in the range of $10 a square foot.
"There are indeed a number of large tenants looking for space in excess of 100,000 square feet and there is little available to meet their needs."
Michael Harvey, vice-president and managing director of national leasing at Oxford Properties Group Inc., which manages properties such as the two Royal Bank Plaza Towers, 1 Adelaide and 10 Bay, says strong demand has enabled Oxford to raise rents from 10 to 15 per cent depending on the building and location.
"While vacancy rates are tight, there is always movement as tenants expand or contract or merge and as leases expire," he says. "Continuing strong demand has allowed us to increase rents almost all across the GTA."
Most property managers stagger leases to allow for a steady flow of renewals, points out Allied's Mr. Emory. Allied tries to stagger expirations so that 13.5 per cent of its tenants face renewals every year, a formula that helps provide for steady revenue growth. The same approach is taken by all major landlords, he says.
That negligible vacancy rate in combination with stiff rent increases is driving tenants north of Queen, east and west of the core and into the suburbs, the brokers and landlords say. But even then just finding space is a challenge, especially for those needing large spaces.
"What you are seeing is buildings like the Atrium and Bay and Dundas, which traditionally had 15-per-cent vacancy rates, being able to lease up," says CBRE's Mr. O'Toole.
"Mike Emory, with all that more affordable brick and beam space downtown, has to be the happiest guy in Toronto," adds Collier's Mr. Arnoldi.
Mr. Emory is indeed pleased. His portfolio has an overall vacancy rate of just 3.5 per cent and he says he is now getting between $22 and $24 a square foot as a base rent - record levels - plus about another $10 in operating costs.
"By comparison, the bank towers need about $25 just to cover operating costs and taxes," he says. "Then add on your base rent, which is hovering near the $30-a-square-foot mark. Our gross is equal to their net."
GTA West, which traditionally has offered tenants needing large spaces a suitable escape from downtown, has become less of an option, says Mr. Morse of Cushman. Despite 1.3 million square feet of new space coming on stream so far this year, he says vacancy rates have dropped to the 7.5-per-cent range.
"There is little opportunity for major tenants to find alternatives there any more."
At the same time, those low vacancy rates have persuaded conservative companies such as GWL to begin creating new office buildings on spec, although nothing of a size to accommodate big tenants.
"We are building a number of 60,000-square-foot office structures in GTA West right now," Mr. Finkbeiner says. "There is not much risk in something of that size where total space is just 19 million square feet and the absorption rate is about 500,000 square feet a year."
Nor is Mr. Finkbeiner concerned about the impact of another three million square feet of space coming on stream downtown in just three years.
"The owners of those projects are experienced, professionally managed companies," he says. "They are going to price those new projects to meet the market at the moment."
In Toronto, core values spread outward
Demand points to double-digit office rent increases - even to brick and beam buildings on the fringe
TERRENCE BELFORD
Special to The Globe and Mail
August 21, 2007
Tight vacancy rates across the Greater Toronto Area spell double-digit base rent increases for any tenant now facing lease renewal or looking for new office space, brokers and landlords say. Especially hard hit will be those tenants looking for larger premises, they say.
"We are already seeing rent increases in the 10- to 13-per-cent range and we believe those figures will start to spike in the final two quarters of this year," says Paul Morse, senior managing director at Cushman Wakefield LePage.
Rent increases in the core of the city - home to the bank towers and other high-rise office buildings - likely will average 10 per cent; but on the fringes, in areas north of Queen Street and to the downtown's east and west, they likely will rise even further, predicts John O'Toole, executive vice-president at CB Richard Ellis Ltd. He says a 15-per-cent increase is not uncommon.
At the same time, both landlords and brokers say the rent increases are providing substantial benefits to the city. They are, for example, creating demand for buildings north of Queen Street where vacancy rates traditionally ran in the 15-per-cent range. They are also helping to spur renovation and upgrading of older less desirable buildings in areas east and west of downtown.
"Owners are finding that if they put their money into improvements now, they can easily get it back plus increased operating profits from rents at these levels," says Michael Emory, president of Allied Properties REIT, which owns 2.5 million square feet of renovated office and retail buildings east and west of Toronto's core.
Those double-digit rent hikes are expected to continue for at least the next three years until about 3.3 million square feet of new office space comes on stream, says John Arnoldi, managing director for the Toronto region at Colliers International.
"The real question that faces us now is when will the impact of that new space be felt and what will it be?" he says. "Will it come in 2009, 2010 or 2011 and will it indeed put pressure on landlords to reduce rents?"
Mr. Morse is predicting vacancy rates, now running in the 5-per-cent range for Toronto, to rise again to 12.7 per cent once all that new space hits the market.
Especially tight is space in the central core area of the city where about 86 per cent of the top-quality office buildings are owned by a handful of pension funds and institutions. Mr. Morse says vacancy rates in triple-A buildings in the core have sunk to just 2.7 per cent, which means a 100,000-square-foot structure has about enough vacant space to house a three-bedroom condominium. Over all, the rate in the core area, south of Queen Street, which is home to about 63 million square feet of space, now stands at 5.3 per cent.
"If you have a 5-per-cent vacancy rate in a building, we consider it fully leased," says Paul Finkbeiner, president of GWL Realty Advisors Inc., which manages properties such as Commerce Court and 33 Yonge Street. He says supply-and-demand factors dictate rent increases and, as space comes up in GWL-managed properties, these have been in the range of $10 a square foot.
"There are indeed a number of large tenants looking for space in excess of 100,000 square feet and there is little available to meet their needs."
Michael Harvey, vice-president and managing director of national leasing at Oxford Properties Group Inc., which manages properties such as the two Royal Bank Plaza Towers, 1 Adelaide and 10 Bay, says strong demand has enabled Oxford to raise rents from 10 to 15 per cent depending on the building and location.
"While vacancy rates are tight, there is always movement as tenants expand or contract or merge and as leases expire," he says. "Continuing strong demand has allowed us to increase rents almost all across the GTA."
Most property managers stagger leases to allow for a steady flow of renewals, points out Allied's Mr. Emory. Allied tries to stagger expirations so that 13.5 per cent of its tenants face renewals every year, a formula that helps provide for steady revenue growth. The same approach is taken by all major landlords, he says.
That negligible vacancy rate in combination with stiff rent increases is driving tenants north of Queen, east and west of the core and into the suburbs, the brokers and landlords say. But even then just finding space is a challenge, especially for those needing large spaces.
"What you are seeing is buildings like the Atrium and Bay and Dundas, which traditionally had 15-per-cent vacancy rates, being able to lease up," says CBRE's Mr. O'Toole.
"Mike Emory, with all that more affordable brick and beam space downtown, has to be the happiest guy in Toronto," adds Collier's Mr. Arnoldi.
Mr. Emory is indeed pleased. His portfolio has an overall vacancy rate of just 3.5 per cent and he says he is now getting between $22 and $24 a square foot as a base rent - record levels - plus about another $10 in operating costs.
"By comparison, the bank towers need about $25 just to cover operating costs and taxes," he says. "Then add on your base rent, which is hovering near the $30-a-square-foot mark. Our gross is equal to their net."
GTA West, which traditionally has offered tenants needing large spaces a suitable escape from downtown, has become less of an option, says Mr. Morse of Cushman. Despite 1.3 million square feet of new space coming on stream so far this year, he says vacancy rates have dropped to the 7.5-per-cent range.
"There is little opportunity for major tenants to find alternatives there any more."
At the same time, those low vacancy rates have persuaded conservative companies such as GWL to begin creating new office buildings on spec, although nothing of a size to accommodate big tenants.
"We are building a number of 60,000-square-foot office structures in GTA West right now," Mr. Finkbeiner says. "There is not much risk in something of that size where total space is just 19 million square feet and the absorption rate is about 500,000 square feet a year."
Nor is Mr. Finkbeiner concerned about the impact of another three million square feet of space coming on stream downtown in just three years.
"The owners of those projects are experienced, professionally managed companies," he says. "They are going to price those new projects to meet the market at the moment."
b13
New Member
i wouldn't be surprised if we see more office towers being constructed in the downtown area later this year!
H
Hydrogen
Guest
Could that please include refacing some of the more dowdy-looking buildings? Would that be too much to ask?
urbandreamer
recession proof
Here's my speculative post of the year: Bloor and Yonge area to get a new office tower? I'm leaning towards Manulife....
Ummagumma66
Active Member
I really like the Bow, I think its going to be great, and they closed 6 Ave today (after a month and half of delays), so construction will be in full swing very soon, I will post a Bow update very soon....(when I get the time..)Thanks V of E, a 1000 + footer Foster is just what this city needs. Hopefully more like London Bridge Tower and less like the Bow.
caltrane74
Senior Member
Maldive at SSP did a rendering which includes this building.
Andrew3D
Active Member
I really like the bow as well, I just find it a bit on the bulky side. I'd be willing to bet that Yonge and Bloor would see a large office tower before 426 University will.
turdrockfromthesun
Banned
Military institute surrenders- huge condo tower on way
Monday, December 03, 2007
Military institute surrenders
Toronto Condo; Stately home to be voluntarily demolished
Adrian Humphreys, National Post
Published: Monday, December 03, 2007
Peter Redman, National Post
TORONTO - The stately home of the Royal Canadian Military Institute, a city landmark that has graced University Avenue for 100 years, is facing voluntary demolition to make way for a high-rise condominium.
The plan, quietly approved by the private institute's members, calls for the building's Edwardian facade--currently flanked by two 19th-century cannons -- to be saved as a nod to its rich heritage.
In the deal with developer Tribute Communities, the military institute will retain the first few floors to house the club's facilities, including the library and museum with its more than 30,000 volumes and historical artifacts.
"It's going to be a high-rise condominium with us occupying several of the bottom floors. We will recreate the institute's ambiance much as it currently is," said Jeffrey Dorfman, president of the military institute.
"Our members do not want a modern glass, teak and metal club. We will save what we can save for the new place and recreate what we can't."
The institute wanted to keep the plan under wraps but confirmed information independently obtained by the National Post.
The controversial plan will save the private members club from having to inject $5-million to $6-million in repairs to the decaying buildings, money it does not have. It also may save the club from extinction.
"This will take us into the next 100 years, and that's important," Mr. Dorfman said. "The members love this building, but the institute is more important than a building."
The heritage building was originally two separate premises. The first fronted on Simcoe Street near Dundas Street West with its cornerstone laid in 1907 by the Governor-General of Canada, The Earl Grey. The second was erected in 1912.
The buildings were later combined into one address fronting onto University Avenue, then a quiet, tree-lined boulevard. As the downtown thoroughfare grew into one of the city's busiest, the building remained one of the last vestiges of its past.
Its once open second-storey balconies, from where visiting members of the royal family had surveyed military parades, have since been closed in.
The military institute predates its building; it was founded in 1890 by the Officers of the Toronto Garrison as a way to better train militia officers. Although now open to civilian members, the institute keeps its focus on defence and security issues.
It is a decidedly traditional club, eschewing spas and fitness rooms for a card room and billiard room. Its main lounge, long bar and two dining rooms are modeled on the officers' mess of a bygone era.
The institute's library is a marvel. With its rows of military-themed volumes, chandeliers and leather chairs begging to be dozed in, it is one of the largest privately maintained libraries on the continent. (Among its museum artifacts is the seat from the plane of the Red Baron, the First World War German flying ace.)
It remains a bastion of conservatism.
For most of its existence, female guests of the male-only membership were only allowed in through the back door and could not venture to the bar. Members at first rebelled over a proposal to allow women to join but relented in 1979, provided they not wear slacks.
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Military institute surrenders
Toronto Condo; Stately home to be voluntarily demolished
Adrian Humphreys, National Post
Published: Monday, December 03, 2007
Peter Redman, National Post
TORONTO - The stately home of the Royal Canadian Military Institute, a city landmark that has graced University Avenue for 100 years, is facing voluntary demolition to make way for a high-rise condominium.
The plan, quietly approved by the private institute's members, calls for the building's Edwardian facade--currently flanked by two 19th-century cannons -- to be saved as a nod to its rich heritage.
In the deal with developer Tribute Communities, the military institute will retain the first few floors to house the club's facilities, including the library and museum with its more than 30,000 volumes and historical artifacts.
"It's going to be a high-rise condominium with us occupying several of the bottom floors. We will recreate the institute's ambiance much as it currently is," said Jeffrey Dorfman, president of the military institute.
"Our members do not want a modern glass, teak and metal club. We will save what we can save for the new place and recreate what we can't."
The institute wanted to keep the plan under wraps but confirmed information independently obtained by the National Post.
The controversial plan will save the private members club from having to inject $5-million to $6-million in repairs to the decaying buildings, money it does not have. It also may save the club from extinction.
"This will take us into the next 100 years, and that's important," Mr. Dorfman said. "The members love this building, but the institute is more important than a building."
The heritage building was originally two separate premises. The first fronted on Simcoe Street near Dundas Street West with its cornerstone laid in 1907 by the Governor-General of Canada, The Earl Grey. The second was erected in 1912.
The buildings were later combined into one address fronting onto University Avenue, then a quiet, tree-lined boulevard. As the downtown thoroughfare grew into one of the city's busiest, the building remained one of the last vestiges of its past.
Its once open second-storey balconies, from where visiting members of the royal family had surveyed military parades, have since been closed in.
The military institute predates its building; it was founded in 1890 by the Officers of the Toronto Garrison as a way to better train militia officers. Although now open to civilian members, the institute keeps its focus on defence and security issues.
It is a decidedly traditional club, eschewing spas and fitness rooms for a card room and billiard room. Its main lounge, long bar and two dining rooms are modeled on the officers' mess of a bygone era.
The institute's library is a marvel. With its rows of military-themed volumes, chandeliers and leather chairs begging to be dozed in, it is one of the largest privately maintained libraries on the continent. (Among its museum artifacts is the seat from the plane of the Red Baron, the First World War German flying ace.)
It remains a bastion of conservatism.
For most of its existence, female guests of the male-only membership were only allowed in through the back door and could not venture to the bar. Members at first rebelled over a proposal to allow women to join but relented in 1979, provided they not wear slacks.
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
yyzer
Senior Member
Well how do you like that, V of E's info was correct....
allabootmatt
Senior Member
Indeed....this would be Tribute's first venture into the downtown, right?
TrickyRicky
Senior Member
"This will take us into the next 100 years, and that's important," Mr. Dorfman said. "The members love this building, but the institute is more important than a building."
I think this is something we need to keep in mind here on this forum because of our interest in the built environment.
I think this is something we need to keep in mind here on this forum because of our interest in the built environment.